The BCTR offers students across campus the opportunity to learn about and participate in research techniques and data collection and analysis as research assistants in many of the center's projects. The annual student showcase gives some current BCTR students an opportunity to present on their work with the center.

The 2013 showcase was held on May 6th. Over 30 people attended, including graduate students, undergraduate students, and BCTR and College of Human Ecology staff. Presentations prompted discussions between center projects about their similar research interests. For example, the issue of parent (or other care-giving adult)/child communication was a recurring subject across presentations and subsequent discussions. Both the Cornell Research Program on Self-Injurious Behavior and the Nurse Family Partnership are considering the best ways for caregivers and children to connect. Multiple center projects are also looking at the "secondary suffering" of parents or caregivers, which applies to those caring for self-injurious youth or elders.

On February 12, 2013, Nigel Gannon (4-H NY State Healthy Living Program Specialist) presented a training to 60 social workers, school counselors, and teachers who work with youth in Oneida, Herkimer, and Madison counties. His presentation, Risk and Thriving in Adolescence: Understanding and Supporting Youth Decision-Making, was part of Cornell Cooperative Extension's annual training event, "Connecting with Kids."

In his talk, Gannonaddressed why adolescents take risks and what communities can do to help keep them safe. The interactive presentation highlighted current research about adolescent risk-taking and ways to support youth approaching or passing through this stage of development. Gannon also reviewed a training tool recently created by NY State 4-H educators to develop a safety net that offers services, opportunities, and support to developing youth. In addition, the presentation addressed the social-emotional needs of youth and adolescents with suggestions for promoting wellness in this area.

A March 11, 2013 Boston Globe article considers the reasons for self-injury, citing Dr. Janis Whitlock's recent research findings on self-injury and subsequent suicide attempts, which were published in the Journal of Adolescent Health. Whitlock is also quoted in the article, commenting on the ways self-injury can lead to continuing or greater self-harm in the future.

A paper published by the Journal of Adolescent Health on December 4th reports the findings of a longitudinal study on non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) led by BCTR and Human Development researcher Dr. Janis Whitlock. In a Cornell Chronicle article on the study, Dr. Whitlock describes the findings:

While we can't conclude that self-injury leads to later suicide attempts, it is a red flag that someone is distressed and is at greater risk. This is important because self-injury is a relatively new behavior that does not show up much in the literature as a risk factor for suicide. It also suggests that if someone with self-injury history becomes suicidal, having engaged in NSSI may make it much easier to carry out the physical actions needed to lethally damage the body.

The September 10th issue of Maclean's Magazine (Canada) features a cover story on depression and suicide in college students. Janis Whitlock, Ph.D., director of the Cornell Research Program on Self-Injurious Behavior, is quoted twice in the article, which suggests that a variety of stresses are causing an increase in depression in college students.

The stress of it all is a huge burden to bear. In preliminary findings from an unpublished study involving several U.S. schools, Cornell psychologist Janis Whitlock found 7.5 per cent of students who started university with no history of mental illness developed some symptoms. About five per cent who did have a previous history of mental illness saw symptoms increase while at university. She says, “there’s probably never been a more complicated time to be growing up than right now.”

Janis Whitlock, Ph.D. (director), Amanda Purington (project coordinator), and Rebecca Morgan (undergraduate research assistant) of the BCTR's Cornell Research Program on Self-Injurious Behavior (CRPSIB) attended and presented at the 7th annual meeting of the International Society for the Study of Self-Injury (ISSS) held at UNC Chapel Hill June 30-July 1. With over 90 attendees, this was the largest meeting of the group to date, with national and international researchers and clinicians attending and presenting, including attendees from Canada, Belgium, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and Britain.

Whitlock, Purington, and Morgan presented a poster of emerging findings from CRPSIB's recovery interview project, Theoretical Models of Recovery and Their Application to Recovery from Non-Suicidal Self-Injury, in which they described the development of a six-stage model of recovery from non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI).

Rebecca has been working with Janis Whitlock and CRPSIB since Fall 2011. As lead student research assistant she contributed to the development of the theoretical model of recovery that will be used in the analyses of a set of qualitative research interviews regarding recovery from non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), creating a coding scheme to apply to the interview data. Her work continues this semester with the refinement of this coding scheme and its application to a subset of the interviews.

Rebecca’s work this summer will address one of the central questions of the CRPSIB project: how can “recovery” be conceptualized and measured in a behavior known to be quite resistant to standard therapeutic treatments? Rebecca’s work will entail conducting additional research interviews, applying a recovery framework to qualitative data, assisting in analyzing the results, and assisting with preparing findings for dissemination.

On May 7, 2012 the Bronfenbrenner Center held the first annual BCTR Student Showcase in Beebe Hall. The event featured posters and presentations by students who have been working with BCTR projects this academic year.

Nine students presented on diverse topics from various BCTR projects (see full presentation list below). The showcase was attended by 38 in all, including faculty, staff from the center and elsewhere on campus, grad students, and undergrads not presenting.

Student research assistants play central roles in BCTR projects, doing everything from data collection, cleaning, and management to analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of findings. Students learn real research skills that help them in the next stages of their education or career. Presenting gave students the opportunity to synthesize what they've been working on as well as practice their presentation skills.

Keeping Youth Engaged: A Qualitative Study of Factors that Promote/Deter Active Participation in Urban After-school Programs
Helen Badu, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Biological Sciences, 2012
Caroline Gross, College of Human Ecology, Biology and Society, 2012
Lily Picon, College of Arts and Sciences, Biology and Society/Spanish, 2013
BCTR Project: The Complementary Strengths Research Project

The Independent Living Survey Project: Identifying the Scope and Nature of Youth Homelessness in Tompkins County
Michael Smith, College of Arts and Sciences, Biological Sciences and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, 2012
Christine Heib, College of Human Ecology, Human Biology, Health, & Society, 2012
BCTR Project: The Independent Living Survey, with ACT for Youth

Assessing the Efficacy of the Friend2Friend Program
Maggie Diu, College of Human Ecology, Human Development, 2013
Akane Otani, College of Arts and Sciences, English and psychology, 2014
Stephanie Shea, College of Human Ecology, Biology and Society, 2012
BCTR Project: Cornell Research Program on Self-Injurious Behaviors

Recommendations for Future Research in Pain Disparities among Older Adults
Meghan McDarby, College of Human Ecology, Human Development, 2014
Jessie Boas, College of Arts and Sciences, Sociology, 2013
BCTR Project: Cornell Institute for Translational Research on Aging (CITRA), Translational Research Institute on Pain in Later Life (TRIPLL)

The BCTR offers students across campus the opportunity to learn about and participate in research techniques, data collection, and analysis as research assistants in several programs, such as ACT for Youth, Self-Injurious Behavior, and HIV AIDS Education. Today they will showcase their work with the BCTR.

Evaluation of Evidence-Based Programs for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention in New York State
Christine Heib, College of Human Ecology, Human Biology, Health, & Society, 2012
Molly Glantz, College of Human Ecology, Human Development, 2012
ACT for Youth

Keeping Youth Engaged: A Qualitative Study of Factors that Promote/Deter Active Participation in Urban After-School Programs
Helen Badu, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Biological Sciences, 2012
Caroline Gross, College of Human Ecology, Biology and Society, 2012
Lily Picon, College of Arts and Sciences, Biology and Society/Spanish, 2013
The Complementary Strengths Research Project

The Independent Living Survey Project: Identifying the Scope and Nature of Youth Homelessness in Tompkins County
Michael Smith, College of Arts and Sciences, Biological Sciences and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, 2012
Christine Heib, College of Human Ecology, Human Biology, Health, & Society, 2012
The Independent Living Survey, with ACT for Youth

Assessing the Efficacy of the Friend2Friend Program
Maggie Diu, College of Human Ecology, Human Development, 2013
Akane Otani, College of Arts and Sciences, English and psychology, 2014
Stephanie Shea, College of Human Ecology, Biology and Society, 2012
Cornell Research Program on Self-Injurious Behaviors

Recommendations for Future Research in Pain Disparities among Older Adults
Meghan McDarby, College of Human Ecology, Human Development, 2014
Jessie Boas, College of Arts and Sciences, Sociology, 2013
Cornell Institute for Translational Research on Aging (CITRA), Translational Research Institute on Pain in Later Life (TRIPLL)

Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Across the Lifespan
Stephanie Shea, College of Human Ecology, Human Biology, Health, & Society, 2012
Cornell Research Program on Self-Injurious Behaviors

The Cornell Research Program on Self-Injurious Behaviors in Adolescents and Young Adults (CRPSIB) was well-represented at this year’s annual meeting of the International Society for the Study of Self-Injury, with one presentation and three posters presented. The presentation, titled “Parent Experiences of Child Self-Injury: Key Processes and Events,” focused on preliminary findings from a current exploratory interview study in which self-injurious young people and their parent(s) are asked about recovery from self-injury and parental roles in the recovery processes. The poster titled “Reaching Out: The Role of Disclosure and Support in Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Cessation” described analyses of qualitative and quantitative data regarding self-injury disclosure to and support from important others and the impact of these on a person’s ability to stop self-injuring. These data come from a large survey, administered to eight colleges across the country. Also pulling from this dataset, the poster “The Ethics of Self-Report Surveys: Assessing Non-Suicidal Self-Injury and Other Sensitive Topics” examined responses of survey participants regarding the experience of taking the survey itself. Finally, the poster “Validity and Reliability of the Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Assessment Tool (NSSI-AT): Why Use the NSSI-AT?” presented support for the use of the NSSI-AT, a survey tool developed by the authors. For more information on these presentations and other work of the CRPSIB, see the project’s publications webpage and the general website.